Bluestorms Curse
by PuppetAngel
Summary: Freezeclan is eagerly awaiting the birth of the new kit who will grow up to be the heir of the leadership. Most clans they've heard of have had different customs than this but they don't care much for how it works otherwise. Hollowstar's son will be raised up to become a strong leader to lead the clan.
1. Prologue: Bad Omen

Another sickening shriek cut through the air like a blade, sounding above even the loud crackle of thunder and drops of rain as it hailed down on the clearing, turning the sand under the grass to mud. The harsh winds shook the dens and sparsely growing trees as it carried throughout camp, ruffling the fur of the clan members. "Is she going to be alright?!" A strongly built, dark grey tom with blue eyes growled, his voice concerned and angry at the same time.  
"I'm doing the best I can." A medium-haired light gray she-cat with blue eyes meowed urgently to the leader, her father, as she paced outside the nursery, blocking others from getting in while her mentor was dealing with the queen. "Father, she's going to be fine, she's giving birth, that's what happens. You'll see, we'll have our heir soon enough."  
These words didn't sooth the leaders temper, he needed to know that his mate was okay and he desperately wondered if he was going to have a tom like he needed. "She'd better be!" The leader snapped, it was all he could really say to his wise daughter, she was perfect and would make the best medicine cat, now they just needed the perfect male to become the next leader.  
After a long wait that seemed like hours, it very well might have been, an auburn colored tom popped out of the den, he had emerald green eyes. "Is she alright?" The leader ran up to the medicine cat, needing to know after the shrieks and then deathly silence that his mate was alright.  
"Ebonyfang!" the medicine cat ignored his leader and bounded over to the queen who sat huddled beside her kit. The she-cat was a light ginger color with misty green eyes and her kit was a tom with a pelt of the brightest almost crimson ginger and blue eyes. "You're needed, come with me." The medicine cat continued and bounded back into the nursery. Ebonyfang followed with her kit hanging from her jaws, wide eyed and curious.  
The leader let out a hiss. "Let me in!" He growled to a strong built brown tabby with black stripes and a white she-cat that was dappled with light brown patches. "Rustletail, Muddapple; let me through!" The leader snarled, first turning to the tom, Rustletail, then to the she-cat, Muddapple. Both warriors held their ground in turn, keeping their eyes on the leader intently, they were ready for him to try and push through.  
Nonetheless, the headstrong tom ran at the two cats who simply pushed him away with a great heave, their strength combined outweighing the leaders. "I'm sorry Hollowstar" Rustletail began. "but we can't let you through, let the medicine cat do his work."  
Muddapple nodded in agreement. "Attacking us will only make matters worse." she meowed, sympathy layering her tone though her emerald green eyes were narrowed with determination. While she respected the leader this was one thing she couldn't allow, the medicine cat couldn't have a cat breathing down his back, he needed to concentrate.  
"It'll be alright." Hollowstar looked down at hearing the small meow and nodded at the medicine cat apprentice.  
"I hope so Softpaw." He murmured uneasily to his daughter, staring at the outside of the nursery walls with desperation as he waited to be able to see his mate again. The unease was killing him, was she alright? Was their kit alright? Finally after another few painfully slow minutes, or hours, Hollowstar didn't really know how long it had been, Firebramble padded out of the nursery.  
"One kit!" He announced. "A tom!" He meowed loudly. This caused the clan to cheer, they had their new leader at last.  
"And how's Glistenspark?" A golden dark brown, mottled she-cat with icy blue eyes who Hollowstar recognized as Heathershade piped up, her voice celebratory and happy as she heard the news about the kit.  
Firebramble didn't even have to say it, the grief-stricken look in his eyes said it all. Nonetheless he raised his voice and meowed. "Glistenspark is dead."  
"What?" One cat, a ginger tom with darker ginger stripes and brown eyes meowed breathlessly, this tom was Rippleblaze.  
"But she was perfectly healthy!" Sharprose, a black she-cat with icy blue eyes and a cream underside, neck, and hind paws yowled, her tone filled to the brim with confusion and grief.  
Stunfur, a ragged brown tom with brown eyes, and a white muzzle and underside let out a yowl that struck silence through the camp. "It's a bad omen!" After a few moments of the storm being the only sound cats began to talk amongst themselves. "We have to kill it!" Stunfur growled, his fur bristled. It caused other cats to nod and bristle, murmuring his words as they began to head to the nursery.  
Hollowstar let out a loud yowl. "Nobody will touch him!" The grief-stricken leader snarled and ran into the nursery. Rustletail and Muddapple letting him pass now that it was over. Not believing it until he saw it Hollowstar stared at Glistenspark who was laying in her nest, cold and stiff. The leader buried his nose into her and let out a loud whine before a thought struck him. Where was his kit? Whipping his head around Hollowstar spotted a small blue bundle laying at Ebonyfangs belly, next to Flamekit.  
"Is-is that him?" The leader whined, glancing back at his mate. Ebonyfang nodded and glanced down at the small blue tom. Hollowstar took this into account and glanced back at his mate, turning and dragging her out into the clearing where he lay next to her, his fur slicked back by the never-ending torrent of rain. When Jaggedpaw, a strongly built blue tom with dark blue eyes began to pad up to his aunt Hollowstar jumped up and snarled at him, causing the apprentice to back up, eyes wide with bewilderment. The leader did the same to all of his clanmates, snarling and chasing them away from his mate if they dared come close, he wasn't going to let them touch her. The only cat he allowed to come over was Softpaw, he let her nuzzle her mom lovingly, her eyes glazed with grief as she sat vigil, nose pressed to Glistensparks side.

Dawn came and went, Hollowstar watched the elders carry his mate out of camp and come back in at sunhigh with no body, Glistenspark was buried. The camp was damp and muddy after the night of rain and the new leaf sun beat down on the camp, warming it slightly though cats still had to wad through the thick mud. Softpaw padded up to the leader, dipping her head respectfully before speaking. "Come with me!" She meowed. "You still need to name him!" Hollowstar sighed and let himself be dragged to the nursery where he soon stood over Ebonyfang, Flamekit, and his kit who lay unnamed, its eyes still closed.  
"What are you going to name it?" Flamekit squeaked excitedly, looking from the small blue bundle to Hollowstar and back.  
"Bluekit." Hollowstar meowed bluntly and turned, beginning to head back out.  
"What? You're not even going to give it any thought?" Ebonyfang asked, her gaze holding a concerned look.  
"Why should I?" Hollowstar asked bluntly. "It's a bad omen, I shouldn't waste my time on it." And with that the leader left the nursery, not even looking back.


	2. Chapter 1: Open Eyes

Bluekit snuggled into the warm soft belly. A small paw prodded him in the side and whispered in his ear. "Come on, open your eyes!" It squeaked excitedly. He knew this voice, it was Flamekit, he was always so eager and impatient. And since Ebonyfang had told him to stop he did it when she wasn't looking or was sleeping as she was now. The blue kit opened his huge blue eyes and looked around finally, admiring the view of the nursery, it was huge! The nursery was so big compared to what he had thought it would be, it had a low hanging roof but plenty of room to play! "Whoa." Bluekit breathed, sitting up in the nest. He glanced around and looked at Flamekit. Man was his pelt bright, it was like fire! And his mom Ebonyfang had a lighter ginger pelt that was also very pretty.

"You opened your eyes!" Flamekit squealed and began jumping around the den, tail held high and blue eyes sparkling. At all this ruckus Ebonyfang opened her eyes, yawning before she was able to speak.

"That's awesome! Congrats Bluekit! Welcome to the clan!" The queens voice was filled with a celebratory tone.

"Thank you." Bluekit dipped his head and gave his chest a few embarrassed licks at all the attention he was getting. Was he really that important? "Who's that?" The kit asked as he pointed his tail to a she-cat on the other side of the nursery. She was a bright ginger with black stripes covering her pelt, a white muzzle, lighter ginger underside, and black spots on her underside.

Ebonyfang smiled softly. "That's Tigerpelt. You must have heard us talk about her."

"Oh that's Tigerpelt? Well then, where are her kits?" The kits eyes rested on the ginger she-cat and he gave a small jump when she opened her eyes that were a brilliant light blue.

"My kits won't arrive for another quarter-moon or so." Tigerpelt meowed softly, her tail curled around her distended belly.

Flamekit looked up at his mom hopefully, he obviously wasn't very entertained by this conversation. "Can we go outside and play?"

"I don't know…." Ebonyfang meowed uncertainly, glancing down at the tiny blue kit.

Staring at Flamekit for a moment Bluekit looked up at the sweet queen and opened his already huge eyes wider, stretching out the pupils and following what Flamekit had done. "Please!" He mewed with his friend joining in.

Ebonyfang, not able to stand the cute looks laughed softly. "Alright you two, just be careful." Flamekit let out a squeal of delight before darting out of the nursery, Bluekit following behind him, curiosity filling him up. What was the world outside going to be like?

When he stepped outside his heart seemed to stop. And Bluekit thought the nursery was big. Outside was so much bigger. The camp was just colossal in size! The dens were splayed out across camp, little cracks that cats slipped in and out of, their fur sleek and well groomed. The air was contently warm and the sky was a bright blue with little specks of white dappled across it and a faint line of light was lit up at the bottom. The ground when he stepped on it was soft and a little damp which Flamekit explained was just from the storm that happened a day ago. Most of the earth had dried though it was damp in some areas, the sparsely growing grass around the camp sticking up straight now in the new-leaf sun.

Overall the camp was a sheer beauty, it was just amazing, he had never seen anything more beautiful. Then again he had never seen anything period. This struck wonder in the tiny tom, what else was out in the world? A huge screech sounded and Bluekit looked up, seeing a huge what did they call it, sparrow in the sky. After it flew off the kit looked around camp once more and spotted the fresh-kill pile. "Whoa!" He mewed and ran over to it, staring at the prey. "Its all so huge!"

"If you think that's huge then wait till you see the other warriors!" Flamekit meowed, glancing around. "The dawn patrols got sent out a little bit ago so you won't see many cats.

"Are they as big as Ebonyfang?" Bluekit asked, turning his gaze to Flamekit, the never fading curious expression in his eyes.

"Most are a little bigger." Flamekit stated. Bluekit gaped. "And she was curled up so she looked a lot smaller than she really is.

"Hey Flamekit, got your knew denmate?" A voice sounded across the clearing as a light gray tom with black stripes and grey eyes trotted over, his head held high as well as his tail. The cat had a build that was slightly stronger than average though not by much.

"Actually, yes!" Flamekit piped up, staring at one of his former denmates.

The tom turned his gaze to Bluekit, a wicked smirk on his striped face. "Hm, this is going to be our leader? Ha! Hollowstar was right, he's nothing but a bad omen!"

"You take that back!" Flamekit hissed, his fur fluffing out and his tail beginning to lash.

"Or what? Are you going to hurt me?" The tom teased in a kit voice. Wow, you're mature. Bluekit thought to himself.

"Oh leave him alone." The blue kit meowed icily to the tom, stepping in front of his friend. "Your quarrel is with me."

The tom laughed and grinned down at Bluekit, his eyes narrowed. "Fine, I'll leave him out of it but-"

"Tornpaw! Leave them alone!" Tornpaw got cut off by a grey-eyed she-cat with a muzzle, neck, and underside that consisted of the same color, the rest of her pelt a pitch black.

"Oh come on Fallowpaw, have some fun!" Tornpaw meowed with an air of superiority.

"No Tornpaw, stop picking on him! He just came out of the nursery and he's going to be your leader when you grow up! Respect him." Fallowpaw ordered, her fur bristling slightly.

"No!" Tornpaw spat. "Make me!" He then turned to Bluekit and opened his mouth to say more but got cut off by a heavy weight bowling into him. A very strongly built tom with the same blue pelt as Bluekit's and matching eyes had pinned Tornpaw down with a low growl.

"You want to tell me what you were going to say?" The tom spat, his tail lashing.

Flamekit leaned over to Bluekit and whispered in his ear. "That's Jaggedpaw, your cousin." Bluekit nodded, looking his cousin up and down a small smile forming on his face. Man is my cousin cool!

"No!" Tornpaw mewed, his ears flattened against his head fearfully, his stormy grey eyes wide.

"Good." Jaggedpaw growled and stepped off Tornpaw who then scampered off with Fallowpaw at his tail. Jaggedpaw watched them leave then turned to his cousin. "You opened your eyes." He commented, staring down at the blue kit.

"Uh-huh!" Bluekit mewed excitedly. "Thank you for saving us!" He squeaked and buried his muzzle into Jaggedpaw's pelt.

His cousin nodded though he showed no sign of emotion. "Anytime." He meowed calmly. Now I've got some training to do, I'll see you around." The apprentice told Bluekit then padded off across the clearing.

Bluekit stared after him in awe. "Whoa, he's so awesome!" He meowed happily, tail in the air.

Flamekit simply shrugged. "Eh, I guess." He meowed softly before walking a little bit away from the fresh-kill pile.

"What?! You don't like him?" Bluekit mewed, aghast, eyes wide as he looked from the spot where Jaggedpaw had disappeared to the spot where Flamekit was standing.

"No, he's fine. I just don't know him very well." The red kit responded, flicking his ear dismissively.

"Oh, okay…" Bluekit meowed. His friend crouched down and let out a playful growl, his tail waving around in the air with excitement.

"Come on lets play!" The ginger kit mewed with a smile, waggling his haunches. Bluekit smiled and ran at Flamekit with a playful yowl, leaping at his friend who jumped out of the way then barreled into Bluekit once he landed on the ground. The blue kit let out a surprised yelp as he was pushed onto the ground by his friend. "Ha! I win!" Flamekit meowed joyously as he thrust his nose into the air to say it, his tail following suit by staying erect.

Bluekit took this chance while Flamekit was off guard and pushed him away, leaping onto him in turn and pinning him down. "I win." He meowed though he kept on guard so when Flamekit tried to push him off he was ready with a counterattack, nipping the ginger kits paw softly and raking his back paws along the kits underbelly. Flamekit squealed with excitement as he pulled his hind legs in the shot them out, pushing Bluekit off him with a great force, a soft growl in his playful tone.

"But he's pathetic!" Bluekit heard the meow full of contempt and pricked his ears, stepping off Flamekit and signaling with a flick of his tail for his friend to remain silent. Creeping up behind a low growing bush the kit saw Tornpaw talking to an all black tomcat with emerald green eyes.

"I know, but he just opened his eyes, give him time." The black tom mewed, he looked the same age as Tornpaw and had the almost the same scent as the rude apprentice, they both also shared that scent with Fallowpaw.

"Give him time? Shadedpaw, some things you can't change with age! He's got the smallest build out of any cat here and he's too skinny for one! Leaders need to have strong builds and LOOK like royalty! He's just a scrawny piece of fur! And we can't have a bad omen leading our clan!"

"Tornpaw, brother, he won't be so skinny forever. Plus, he's not a bad omen. Stop saying that, what happened was an accident." Shadedpaw mewed quietly, holding much less emotion than his brothers furious whispers.

"She was perfectly healthy! And she died giving birth to him! He's not even that big! He IS bad omen, and we need to prove that to all of Freezeclan, are you with me?" The gray and black kit finished, staring at his kin expectantly.

With a sigh, Shadedpaw nodded. "Alright, I'm with you on this. Now we just have to convince Fallowpaw to-"

"No!" Tornpaw cut him off with a quiet hiss. "She's not with us on this! She doesn't understand, she wants to be with pitiful Bluekit! She's not our sister anymore."

"But… She's our sister." Shadedpaws mew was hardly audible amongst the light breeze that was stirring.

"No, she's not." Tornpaw's harsh voice betrayed him with the slightest hint of sympathy in his tone, though it was whipped away by the wind the next moment. "Now, lets go train, our mentors will be waiting." Shadedpaw nodded at this and the scampered off in the other direction.

"Whoa, did you just hear all that?" Bluekit whispered. When he received no answer the blue kit glanced around, spotting Flamekit chasing after a butterfly. The attention span of a squirrel. The kit thought before speaking. "Flamekit, did you see any of that?" Bluekit asked once he had caught up with the ginger tom.

"Hear any of what?" The kit asked distractedly.

Bluekit simply sighed. "Nothing, never mind."

"Alright." Flamekit responded and then leaped up, completely entranced by the butterfly. Bluekit reverted his eyes to the ground, he wanted to tell Flamekit all about it but something told him not to. So he followed his instinct. Putting on his usual smile Bluekit chased after the butterfly with his friend, batting at it with little giggles and tumbling over the ginger kit next to him as the wildly jumped at the butterfly, their outstretched paws missing it just barely each time they grabbed at it.

Bluekit toppled over Flamekit and they tumbled across the clearing, giggling madly. "Hey, watch it!" Flamekit joked softly, laughing and batting the blue kit lightly over the head.

"You watch it!" Bluekit replied with the same amount of laughter as he batted at the ginger tom. A voice across the clearing interrupted him from continuing his play fight with Flamekit.

"Yes Hollowstar." A light brown tom with matching colored eyes and ginger patches meowed before padding off.

"Who was that?" Bluekit wondered.

"That was Badgerclaw. He's the deputy until you become old enough to be it." Bluekit nodded then turned his gaze to the cat Badgerclaw had been speaking to. Hollowstar was huge in build and rather large in size, he had blue eyes and Bluekit smiled at seeing him. That was his dad. "Hollowstar!" Bluekit squealed as he shot towards the huge tom, tail high in the air and a smile on his face.

Hollowstar looked down as Bluekit came to a halt in front of the leader. "Bluekit." He meowed to his son, voice showing no emotion. Flamekit followed more slowly and dipped his head to the leader respectfully. Hollowstar simply nodded at the ginger kit. "I see you've opened your eyes." The leader said, his voice sounding bored.

"Yeah, I did this morning!" Bluekit squeaked, hoping to have impressed his dad.

"I see." Hollowstar muttered then stood up. "Well, I've got a patrol to lead."

"Okay! I'll see you later!" Bluekit meowed and watched as the leader padded off without a goodbye. "Wow, he must be really busy." The blue tom mewed before a weight bowled into him.

"And you're busy too!" Flamekit squeaked as he pinned Bluekit down and began batting at him playful with little squeals of delight.

"Flamekit, Bluekit! Come get milk!" They heard Ebonyfangs call from outside the nursery and ran over to her, giggling softly as the watched the butterfly soar away. "You've been out here all day and its already sunset!"

"It was really that long?" Flamekit asked sheepishly.

"Yes, it was, now lets go inside and get food." The queen meowed sternly though her voice was caring through and through. The two kits tumbled inside after the she-cat and lay down beside her. Bluekit didn't even realize how hungry he was until he sat down and felt his stomach rumble.

After eating both Flamekit and Bluekit settled down to sleep with Ebonyfang wrapped around them, he tail holding them close to her body which kept the two cats warm. Bluekit closed his eyes but felt no sleep come to him, at least not as fast as the others, he was still thinking about Tornpaw and Shadedpaw. Once he heard the soft snoring of the queen and her kit Bluekit stood up, shaking out his fur and stepping timidly over Ebonyfang's tail the kit smiled softly, he had gotten past the queen. Letting out a sigh of relief the kit flattened his ears as the sigh passed through the air and faded away.

Bluekit stepped towards the entrance and froze when a voice sounded from the corner. "And where are you going little one?" The kit turned to see Tigerpelt, her eyes glinting in the darkness of the den.

"Uh, nowhere. I was just going to get some fresh air." Tigerpelt smiled softly at this and stood up. "Fine, you can get some fresh air" Bluekit smiled, relief spreading through him once again. "with me." She finished.

"But I-"

No buts, you're not going out there alone." Tigerpelt whispered softly. "Now come on, you don't want to wake anyone else, do you?" Bluekit shook his head and tiger pelt picked him up by the scruff and carried him out of the nursery before setting him down outside, a few mouse-lengths from the nursery.

The night was nice and calm, a soft breeze flew through the camp, ruffling the kit and queens fur as it passed and sending a pleasant chill down Bluekits spine, he loved the fresh air. The sky above was one of the darkest shades of blue you could see, it was almost black. Along with that little specks of stars sparkled throughout the darkness, brightening it up and a moon sat in the sky, it was so close to being a half-moon it was hard to tell that it wasn't actually.

The trees in the territory were sparsely grown and were like huge lumbering shadows in the night, they almost looked like huge twolegs bending down to snatch a cat up. "Its beautiful isn't it." Tigerpelt murmured softly, tilting her head down to look at the kit.

"Yeah, all of it is." Bluekit responded, his voice distant as he let his mind run back to earlier that day. What was Tornpaws problem with him? Why does he have a grudge against me? I didn't do anything to him. I didn't ask to be born with such a small build, why can't he understand that?

"You look troubled." Tigerpelts voice broke through the kits thoughts and he realized he was never going to get a moment of time to think with her here.

"Yeah, I uh, its just been a big day for me. I'm thinking about everything I saw. I like thinking about everything."

The ginger she-cat nodded. "Yeah, I bet. A kits first day after they opened their eyes is always the biggest, or at least it seems. But you've got much bigger days ahead of you, trust me. You're destined for greatness."

"I know." Bluekit brightened up at this and his huge eyes began to shine. "I can't wait. One day I'll be leader and no one will be able to tell me what to do or pick on me! I'll show them all how great I can be!" The kit mewed excitedly, his tail waving around with excitement. Tigerpelt let out a small mrow of amusement. "What?" The kit asked, his tone filled with confusion as he stared up at the queen.

"Nothing young one." She murmured soothingly, wrapping her tail around him and pulling him closer to her. Her body warmed the kit and he soon began purring, happy to have such nice cats that accepted him for who he was and cared for him. She didn't judge him for things he didn't choose, it really made the tom feel accepted and like a member of the clan.

"Hey Tigerpelt?" Bluekit's voice was suddenly hesitant and tense.

"Yes?" Tigerpelt asked, wondering what the sudden mood change was about.

"What if- What if I'm not good enough to be leader?"

Tigerpelt chuckled softly. "Trust me, when you're done with your training, you will be. Theirs no doubt about it. Bluekit nodded and though he wasn't completely comforted he pushed the thoughts away so he could enjoy the night and the sweet queen. The kits eyes began to droop and he leaned more against the she-cat for support then for warmth. Tigerpelt realized this and picked the kit up by the scruff. "Come on, lets get you to bed." She meowed through a mouthful of fur.

Bluekit didn't argue as she brought him into the nursery but when she set him down beside Ebonyfang his jumped over the queens tail and curled up with Tigerpelt. The black striped queen simply smiled and began purring, licking the kit on the head smoothly, lulling him to sleep. And before Bluekit knew it, he was swallowed up by darkness, his body shaking slightly from purring along with Tigerpelt.


	3. Chapter 2: Ceremony Disrupted

It had been just about two moons since that night with Tigerpelt, one more day and it would be. Bluekit had grown a lot in the legs, though the rest of him hardly seemed to change. It didn't help though, now because of his slightly lengthened height he looked like a skeleton, of course his weight didn't bother to fill in, he was as scrawny as ever.

Flamekit, no, Flamepaw now, had moved to the apprentices den leaving Ebonyfang to return to the warriors den. Tigerpelt had Crowpatch's kits; Hawkkit, A dark ginger she-cat with black blotches and dark brown eyes; and Lightkkit, A light ginger she-cat with light blue eyes and black tail stripes. But they weren't the only new kits. Poppyshade had moved into the nursery a little bit before Flamepaw left, she had come at the last minute and had given birth to Rippleblaze's four kits, three toms and one she-cat. Sparkit, a golden tom with brown eyes; Tanglekit, a golden she-cat with brown stripes and icy blue eyes; Runningkit, a brown, ginger mottled tom and icy blue eyes; and Thornkit, a ginger tom with brown stripes and brown eyes.

All the kits were growing up rather healthy which was a relief. Along with Poppyshade Muddapple had moved into the nursery expecting Russtletail's kits, she hadn't given birth yet but was expected to any day now. With all these new cats in the nursery it had become really crowded. Tigerpelt shared her milk with Bluekit sine Ebonyfang had now resumed her warrior duties. Tigerpelt was always so nice to Bluekit. Muddapple was friendly and Poppyshade just had something against him. She always glared at him and called him a nuisance, the bad omen thing had never seemed to have worn away. It wasn't as strong as it was when he had first been born but now that he was older he caught the foul looks that cats sent his way, or more like he understood them.

Bluekit had been training even though he was a kit. Whenever Flamepaw had free time he would show Bluekit moves that he had learned or show him different types of ways to hunt for different animals. He said Bluekit was getting along well but Bluekit believed he was just lying because he pitied him or something. Either way Bluekit trained every time he had free time which wasn't very often anymore because of all the new kits.

It was weird, being the oldest kit in the den, the closest to apprenticeship, and he was really eager to become an apprentice. But all of the kits wanted to play with him and have him show them things because he was oldest. Poppyshade hated watching her kits follow him around and scolded them every time they did. So her kits avoided him for the most part, even growling at him on occasion. Except for Tanglekit. Tanglekit followed him around whenever Poppyshade wasn't looking, Bluekit was sure that she followed him around even more than Tigerpelt's kits!

Yeah she was sweet but he almost got no time to himself, though being a kit he didn't need much. It wasn't that he wanted to be alone it was just the fact that he wanted to train as much as he could. In Freezeclan kits began training at four moons, though some did with only three. And with just a moon and a sunrise to two moons and a sunrise to go Bluekit was training as much as possible, though he didn't show or tell anyone. Except for Tigerpelt of course, he told her all about his training sessions. The reason he didn't say was because he wanted to impress his mentor when he got one, whoever they would be.

New kits wasn't the only thing that had happened in the clan. His sister Softpaw had got her medicine cat name of Softrain and Bluekit's cousin Jaggedpaw had received his warrior name of Jaggedwaves. Both of these had happened just days after Bluekit was born, one on the half-moon, the night after his conversation with Tigerpelt, the other just three sunrises after that. And with the two of them being kin to Hollowstar they were highly respected, and with good reason too. Softrain was very wise and was one of the best medicine cats the clan had seen in ages, some said she was even better than her mentor Firebramble! Jaggedwaves was a harsh but very strong and intelligent cat, Bluekit really looked up to him and Hollowstar.

Tornpaw and Shadedpaw stayed the same with their taunting and Stunfur seemed to dislike Bluekit a lot as well. Most of the warriors didn't talk to Bluekit or simply glared at him when he passed by though for the most part they minded their own business. Bluekit noticed Tornpaw and Shadedpaw leaving camp whenever they could together, whether it was going to collect moss or hunting. Their mentors seemed to adore them so they got away with a lot of things they shouldn't and Bluekit knew that once he could leave camp he would figure out what they were talking about together.

Oh and remember how Shadedpaw was a little against hating Bluekit a while back? Yeah well, not anymore. Now he was nearly an exact copy of Tornpaw, only more like Tornpaw's little minion. At least Fallowpaw didn't follow Tornpaw around. Well, at least she didn't yet. Lately she had been getting colder and colder to Bluekit, now she just avoided him altogether. And he figured that soon she would be ganging up on him just like Tornpaw, Shadedpaw, Poppyshade and her kits, Stunfur, and a whole lot of other cats in the clan. Why did they hate him so much? Did everyone really think he was a bad omen?

Bluekit never got to talk to his dad, whenever he did get to Hollowstar would always be really distant. But he was leader, he must be busy. So Bluekit would brush it off and hope that the next time they talked Hollowstar wouldn't be so distant and busy, if they got to talk again soon. It was almost as if his dad was avoiding him but Bluekit knew he would never do that.

But more than stuff inside the clan had happened. As if his birth had upset more than just a few cats Shadeclan had begun disputes with Freezeclan, accusing them for things they didn't do and making rude remarks when they saw cats across the border. Oh, you don't know Shadeclan? Well, they're a clan that lives in the mountains. They don't share a border with us by they're pretty close to doing so. Plus they always want to expand their territory. Shadeclan has different rules then Freezeclan, but only by a little bit. Shadeclan was a lot smaller for one because their clan didn't kill in battles. Then what's a battle for?

If you're not killing then what are you proving? Also their kits don't go into apprenticeship until six moons. What a waste! there is plenty of time their to train kits but they just sit in the nursery and play.

Besides Shadeclan their were a lot of clans that lived around Freezeclan, but they weren't going to go to prissy little gatherings like Shadeclan did with this other clan that lived on the moor. What was its name? Oh yes, Silverclan. So now you see a lot had been going on recently, it was all pretty crazy and Freezeclan was really on edge because of Shadeclan but they dealt, it was just life, at least with Shadeclan they didn't have to worry about dying cats.

Thinking about all of this Bluekit had completely dazed out when a call brought him out of his thoughts and a crushing weight bowled into him. "Got you!" Tanglekit squeaked with joy, her eyes shining as she pinned the startled blue kit down.

"Yes you have, congrats." Bluekit mewed softly and with a small smile before he lightly shoved the she-cat off.

"Come on lets play more!" Tanglekit begged, her eyes wide and pleading.

Unable to resist, Bluekit nodded, he didn't want to upset her by saying no. So the tom crouched down and let out a playful growl, a smirk playing out on his face. "Roar, I'm a Shadeclan cat coming to invade Freezeclan and take their kits!" Bluekit meowed, his tail swishing around in the air and his teeth bared.

At first Tanglekit squealed and went to hide then a moment later she stopped herself, mid-step, whirled around a leaped towards Bluekit with the same playful growl as his. "You'll never hurt my clan!" She yowled as she bowled into Bluekit who could have easily dodged but didn't want to discourage the young she-cat. Tanglekit swatted at Bluekit with a paw who reached up and nipped at softly, so gentle his teeth barely connected with her paw. Nonetheless Tanglekit, for entertainment purposes, yelped in pain and reared back on her hindlegs, losing her balance and falling over onto her back.

"Now I've got you!" Bluekit snarled, stalking towards Tanglekit, his ears laid back and his tail swishing back and forth, his eyes narrowed, and teeth bared. Tanglekit squealed in fear and placed her paws over her face. Seeing that the game was over Bluekit padded over to the she-cat and picked her up by the scruff, lifting her back onto her paws gently. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yes!" Tanglekit mewed with a smile, rubbing up against Bluekit. "That was fun!"

"It sure was." Bluekit purred softly, gently letting his tail slide along the kits average built frame with ease.

"Sparkkit! Tanglekit! Runningkit! Thornkit!" Poppyshade's call rang throughout the clearing and Tanglekit jumped to her paws, knowing she would get scolded if she was caught talking to Bluekit.

"I've got to go!" She squeaked before running off, along with the other four kits who were scattered around the clearing, Thornkit and Runningkit had been play fighting while Sparkkit had been busy playing a heated game of moss ball with Hawkkit and Lightkit.

"Alright, see you around!" Bluekit called, waving his tail goodbye. Once Tanglekit was in the nursery Bluekit let out a relieved sigh, he finally had time to practice his training. Since he had been intent on training his fighting moves the kit decided to practice hunting more. He lowered himself into a crouch, tail still and on the ground, muscles bunched as he crept towards a ball of moss. When he was a few mouse-lengths from it the tom leaped and landed on the moss ball, a proud smile forming its way on his face. But not even a heartbeat later did a weight go flying into him, knocking him over.

"Sorry!" Hawkkit mewed and stood up, Bluekit then realized this was the ball they just have been playing moss ball with.

"No I'm sorry!" Bluekit insisted, standing up and moving away from the ball of moss. "I didn't realize it was the ball of moss you were using."

Lightkit padded over and shrugged. "Its alright!" She meowed.

"As long as you play the next round with us!" Hawkkit piped up, eyes gleaming with excitement and tail high in the air. Lightkit glanced at her for a moment then grinned and nodded, staring at Bluekit hopefully.

Managing to hold back a sigh, Bluekit nodded. "Yeah, alright fine." At hearing this the two kits squealed in delight and hopped up and down. While they were doing so Bluekit hooked up the moss ball with a paw and flung it across the clearing, the kits looked up and chased after it, their tails waving around in the air. Bluekit chased after them though he went at a slower pace, finding it would be unfair to use his extra long legs to his advantage against their short, stubby ones.

Hawkkit took a flying leap and grabbed the moss ball and flicked her tail at Lightkit. Lightkit in turn ran past Bluekit. Then Hawkkit threw the moss ball at Lightkit, it soared right over Bluekits head who stared at it with confusion until Lightkit caught it. Now he knew what they were doing. Cat in the middle, a fun and simple game. It involved three cats, two on the outside, one in the middle. The two cats on the outside, which in this case would be Hawkkit and Lightkit, throw the ball to each other. The cat in the middle, Bluekit at the moment, would try to catch the ball as they threw it to each other. If he caught it, whichever cat had threw it was now in the middle.

Lightkit tossed the ball and Bluekit reared up on his hind legs, missing the ball of mouse by less than a mouse-length. Hawkkit took a flying leap and caught it then twisted mid leap and flung it back at her sister. Once again Lightkit caught it but this time when she threw it Bluekit quickly interjected and grabbed it, paw outstretched as it caught onto the piece of moss.

"Aw!" Lightkit whined though a soft smile still stayed on her face. She quickly scampered to Bluekits spot as Bluekit ran over to hers. He threw the moss ball high in the air then jumped up and hit it with a paw, sending it flying to Hawkkit who hit it right back, her paw connecting with it and sending it flying just as his had. The two kits did this back and forth a few times until they heard Tigerpelt's voice. "Hawkkit! Lightkit! Bluekit! The suns setting, its dark out, come on!" The queens voice was soft and gentle, and the kits all ran over to her, Hawkkit carrying the ball of moss. "Hawkkit put that down." Tigerpelt meowed softly with a slight chuckle. "You can make another one tomorrow, this one you've been using all day. Its got dirt in it!"

Hawkkit obeyed and dropped the moss ball before clambering into the nursery after Lightkit, Bluekit following her, and Tigerpelt bringing up the rear. Once they were all in the nursery Tigerpelt lay down in her nest, he kits following and getting their share of milk before curling up by her side, ready to sleep for the night.

Muddapple smiled softly at the bundle of kits. "They're adorable, I can't wait to have mine." She meowed, a loving smile on her face.

Tigerpelt nodded, wrapping her tail around all three of them. "Yeah, they're wonderful." She responded before saying a brief goodnight and laying her head down, ready to sleep for the night.

Bluekit heard the soft snoring of some of the cats, and enjoyed the warm feel of pelts pressed up against his. He loved Tigerpelt, she seemed more like a mother than even Ebonyfang, Hawkkit and Lightkit really felt like sister to him. But maybe that was because he had spent about one and three quarter moons with them all and only a few sunrises with Ebonyfang and Flamepaw. Bluekit slept soundly for the night, the gentle purring of Tigerpelt keeping him warm.

At dawn Bluekit opened his eyes and let out a yawn, stretching out comfortably. He stood up and quickly blinked the sleep from his eyes as he realized that a yowl had woken him. At first fear shot through him, then he heard Hollowstar calling together a meeting and smiled softly, he loved meetings. He loved knowing what was going on and hearing special news, it was also nice seeing his dad up high, announcing things, he looked so strong.

Tigerpelt stood up and arched her back in a stretch, nudging her two daughters. Lightkit opened her eyes groggily and began rising to her paws while Hawkkit continue to lay still, she was a rather heavy sleeper. Tigerpelt just smiled at that and nudged Hawkkit a little harder, licking her gently. "Wake up love." She meowed softly. Hawkkit blinked open her brown eyes and let out a tiny yawn before shaking herself.

"What's going on?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"A meeting." Tigerpelt replied.

"A meeting? Whoa cool!" Lightkit squeaked excitedly, tail shooting up in the air.

Bluekit smiled softly. "We'd better get out quickly if we want good seats!" He meowed enticingly.

The two kits bounced around and ran out of the nursery, Tigerpelt chuckling softly and following, picking Bluekit up by the scruff and carrying him with her as they found a spot, Lightkit and Hawkkit nearly bouncing around the clearing as they found seats. They didn't seem like they were going to make it through the gathering with that much energy.

Tigerpelt set Bluekit down on the ground next to her, he sat by her side next to the other two kits. The queen wrapped her tail around the three of them and looked up to see what the leader had to say.

"Cats of Freezeclan" Hollowstar began, his voice booming around the camp clearing and echoing a few times before fading off into silence. "This Greenleaf we have been very well, but, its time another cat began training." The clan murmured in low confused tones, glancing around. No kit was four or even three moons old yet. "This kit is ready to be apprenticed and will be apprenticed early. Bluekit."

Bluekit froze when his name was called and, with a nudge from Tigerpelt, stepped forward into the middle of the clearing. He looked back to glance at Tigerpelt, Lightkit, and Hawkkit but instead his gaze caught on a shadow at the edge of camp, it moved and in the next moment it was gone. Bluekit took his gaze off it, turning back to Hollowstar and forgetting all about it, he was becoming an apprentice! "Bluekit, you are ready to be apprenticed. From now on you will be known as Bluepaw." Hollowstar paused, his gaze raking the clearing, he seemed to have already made up his mind on a mentor but hesitated, making sure he was correct. "Jaggedwaves, you are ready for an apprentice. You will be Bluepaw's mentor." Yeah it was unusual to have kin mentor each other but everyone knew that Jaggedwaves wouldn't cut anyone slack, he could be trusted. Anyways, Bluepaw was overjoyed, he was an apprentice, and he had the best mentor in the world.

Jaggedwaves stepped forward and pressed his nose to Bluepaw's for a moment. He then pulled back and began chanting Bluepaw's name along with the rest of the clan, or well, most of them. Most of the cheers were half-hearted but the caring cheers of the cats that cared for him overruled all of that for Bluepaw, he hardly even noticed the cats half-heartedly calling his new name or not calling it at all.

Bluepaw whipped around when suddenly, a yowl sounded from out of camp, joined by angry yowls, snarls, and hisses. "Shadeclan, attack!"


End file.
